Detachable retaining means



s. M. WARD 2.200.812

DETACHABLE RETAINING MEANS May 14, 1940.

Filed May 26, 1939 ATTORNEY Patented May 14, 1940 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I 2,200,812 DETAGHABLE RETAINING MEANS Sena-M. Ward, New York, N. Y.

Application May 26, 1939, Serial No. 275,849

Claims. (01. 24-151) This invention relates to detachable retaining devices particularly adapted for securing of dress shields of the type employed in womens garments for protection in the region of the 5 arm hole openings or arm scye portions'of the garment. A particular'object of the present inprovements is to provide conveniently attachable and detachable retaining means adapted for varied uses and which in the specified use for the retaining of dress shields may be permanently attached to the shields and by its improved form permits of readily securing of the shield to the arm scye portion of the garment and allows the shield to be readily detached l6 therefrom to facilitate laundering of the garment and replacement as desired.

To this end I have devised an improved form and construction of retaining means in the form of a clasp which may be economically made of 2 sheet metal. These improved clasps are suitably secured to the dress shields and are so designed that they may be readily secured to the arm hole portions of the garment by a unidirectional sliding movement to clamp on the arm 25 scye of the garment for securely retaining the shield in position. They further offer the advantage of permitting quick and convenient removal of the shields by a continued movement of the clasps in the same direction while firmly 30 resisting reverse direction of movement thereby allowing of assembling of the clasps upon the shields so as to firmly resist the pulls or stresses tending to displace the shields from their proper position.

35 The foregoing and other features and advantages of my present improvements will be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein like reference characters are applied to the corresponding parts in the 40 several views.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a dress shield employing therewith the retaining clasps of my invention and showing the manner of assembling the arm hold portion of a shirtwaist or garment.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the improved clasp with arrows showing the direction 50 of movement for attaching and detaching thereof.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross sectional view taken 55 on line l-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a central, vertical and longitudinal section taken on line 55 of Fig. 4.

,Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the improved clasp'showing same assembled with the material of the garment, the latter shown in section. 5

Fig. 7 is a view in end elevation, showing a modified arrangement of the retaining teeth of the clasp.

In the approved embodiment of the features of my invention, as shown in Figs. 1 to 6, at Ill 10 there is shown the. standard form of arcuately contoured dress shield of protective waterproof material composed of inner and outer folds or flaps connected by the usual arcuate scye portion and adapted for straddling the scye of the garment with the outer fold within the garment sleeve in the well known manner. In accordance with the present invention, there is secured to the scye portion'of the shield and between the shield folds and preferably at the opposite ends of'the shield, as's hown in Fig. 1, retaining clasp members 'l2 adapted for securing engagement with the scye portion of the garment.

As best shown in Figs. 2 to 6, the clasp'members are of an improved structure and design desirably made from sheet materials, preferably. stainless steel, which may be stamped out and bent to form as shown having opposite, inclined side wall portions l2 joined by the upper fold over connecting portion 9 and having their longi- 'tudinal free edge portions as shown formed with a forward rounded edge 14 and with rear- Wardly inclined teeth l5 which are desirably turned inwardly and upwardly as best shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The connecting portion 9 is desirably formed with apertures 8-8 to receive a securing thread for attaching to the shield altho, as shown in Fig. 1, the attaching of the clasp may in simpler manner be by an attaching thread l3 passed end to end through the clasp. 40 As shown the teeth 55 are formed with their front faces having minor inclination and with the rear faces of major and undercutting inelination thereby to produce teeth having a definite rearward inclination which, assisted by the rounded forward edges M, permbits the clasps readily receiving the material of the scye of the garment between the teeth by a forward movement of the clasp with relation to the garment material. It will correspondingly firmly resist any reverse movement as will readily be understood. In the assembly, as shown in Fig. 1, of

the uppermost clasps upon the shield, the clasps at opposite ends of the shield have their teeth reversely inclined so as in each instance to resist movement of the clasps toward the center of the sleeve opening. Also as shown, additional clasps may suitably .be attached to the lower ends of the shield flaps for securing engagement with the material of the garment which desirably is effected with a loose thread connection l8.

The gauge of metal employed for the clips is determined to obtain an effective retaining grip upon the material of the garment and when it is desired to remove the clasps and shield for the purpose of laundering of the garment or replacement of the shields it is only necessary to further move them in the same general direction as when assembling to work the clasps forwardly and upwardly from their resilient securing. en-

gagement with the fabric. The upward inclina tion to the teeth as shown is desirable in obtaining a more effective securing grip upon. the mate-. rial and imparts an added resiliency to the grip ping action.

In Fig. 7, there is shown a simple modification in the form of the clasp wherein the teeth are formed of differing size with the longer teeth of one side wall partially overlying the shorter teeth of the opposite side wall to obtain a more secure grip upon the material of the garment.

While I have shown and described desirable embodiments of the features of my invention, it will be understood that varied modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Also, while the improved clasps are described as adapted for the retaining of dress shields, itwill be understood that they may be used for other purposes as for instance the temporary securing of dress material during fittings.

I claim:

1. A retaining device of the character described consistingof a clasp composed of a body of resilient sheet material folded flatwise uponitself to provide opposed walls having their longitudinal free edge portions formed with inwardly and rearwardly inclined retaining teeth adapted to permit unidirectional attaching and detaching with a fabric.

2. A retaining means of the character described consisting of a body portion of resilient sheet material folded flatwise upon itself to provide opposed side walls having their free edges formed with rounded forward ends and with inwardly and rearwardly inclined retaining teeth adapted to permit unidirectional attaching and de-, taching movement relative to the material of a garment.

3. A retaining means of the character described consisting of I a body portion of resilient sheet material folded flatwise upon itself to provide opposed, angularly disposed side walls having their longitudinal free edge portions formed with inwardly and upwardly inclined retaining teeth, said teeth being rearwardly inclined for unidirectional attaching and detaching movement.

4. A retaining device of the character described consisting of a clasp composed of a body portion of resilient sheet material folded upon itself to provide resilient opposed side Walls having their longitudinal free edge portions formed with rounded forward ends and with inwardly and upwardly inclined teeth, said teeth having front faces vof minor inclination and rearward faces of major and undercutting inclination for unidirectionalattaching and detaching movement.

5. A retaining means of the character described consisting of a clasp composed of a body portion of resilient sheet material folded upon itself to provide opposed side Walls having their longitudinal free edges formed with rounded forward ends and withinwardly and upwardly inclined teeth, the teeth of the opposed .walls having differing length with the longer teeth partially overlyin opposed shorter teeth.

I SENA M. WARD. 

